Hypogonadism in men with intellectual disabilities: a population study

Abstract

We examined the gonadal status of a subset of men from a previously reported population sample. We found that hypogonadism, defined in a variety of ways, was common in the population. We found hypofunction in both testosterone production and inferentially, in sperm production, the two interdependent functions of the testes. Various measures of health such as total cholesterol and haemoglobin were correlated with testosterone concentration in this cross-sectional sample. The data raise the possibility that low testosterone concentrations are associated with adverse health outcomes. This hypothesis will need to be studied more carefully and tested in controlled trials of androgen replacement therapy.